Caribbean Tv Starts 24-hour Video Network

December 09, 1992|By Jim Farber, New York Daily News.

Anyone can hear the lilting influence of Caribbean music on the charts these days. From the crossover of dance hall reggae stars Shabba Ranks and Mad Cobra to the penetration of patois into rap hits of Ice Cube and Heavy D., a fresh wave of island sounds is crashing into the mainstream.

Now, a new video service aims to let us see this wave as well as hear it. The Caribbean Satellite Network, which operates out of Miami, has just kicked off as the first 24-hour-a-day cable forum for island-derived music videos. Though reggae will dominate the schedule (eating up 70 percent of playtime), CSN plans to plug everything from soca to calypso, all under the general rubric ``roots music.``

``There`s a whole network of local record stores and recording labels for this community,`` explains Janine McAdams, R & B editor of Billboard. ``But in video they`re still underserviced.``

Which was what gave Delroy Cowan, founder of the network, the big idea in the first place. ``The Caribbean, as a region, has no guaranteed round-the-clock TV outlet for its culture.``

Cowan knows the culture he speaks of. The 40-year-old Jamaican-based businessman first made his mark in 1976 by starting a local trucking company. By `89 he expanded into entertainment, creating an amusement complex called Coney Park.

To launch CSN, Cowan got the backing of a ``consortium of Jamaican businessmen.`` Bolstering their hopes is Cowan`s belief that the market for Caribbean-based music stretches beyond those with island roots. ``There`s a lot of reggae fans among white college students.``

Other observers say hip hop fans are getting into the music as well. Mark Ghuneim, director of video promotion for Columbia Records, says, ``A major transition is taking place, with hip hop shows giving more time to reggae and world beat.``

Which means the fledgling CSN has some competition. Already many cities feature weekly reggae and world beat TV shows, including ``Q,`` which runs on the PBS affiliate in San Francisco and the syndicated program ``Tropical Beat,`` which claims a potential audience of 33 million. According to

``Beat`s`` executive producer, Charlene Warner, her show will also soon turn up on Fox outlets in New York and L.A.

Still, weekly programs are far less ambitious than a 24-hour operation like CSN. McAdams, for one, wonders if the network can fill the time.

To help it along, the network plans some non-music programming. Much of it sounds like bids for travel ads: ``We`ll offer information about hotels, beaches and places to eat in the Caribbean,`` Cowan explains.

According to Peggy Dold, vice president of Island Records` independent labels, CSN can get in the door with advertisers by pointing to the moneyed element of this audience. ``There`s a well-educated, upscale buyer for this music,`` she says.

And yet, due to limited channel capacity and questionable appeal, few cable systems in this country have so far signed on.

While observers wonder if the budding network has deep enough pockets to hold on, most think there are markets with enough viewer interest to help it along.

``I don`t know if it can survive all across this country,`` says McAdams. ``But in New York and Miami it should do well. In the Caribbean and Latin America, too. About the rest, we`ll have to see.``